I often call this Cranial
Bio-Dynamics. There is gentle rhythmic
motion of the bones and tissues of the skull and body
with the ebb and flow of the cerebrospinal fluid.
Restrictions can lead to reduced adaptability to the
stresses of life. Craniosacral therapy addresses
obstacles to motion, freeing the innate healing energies
of the body. Craniosacral therapy to support Autonomic
Nervous System health and overall
"bodyfield Coherence"
is a major part of my naturopathic physical therapy.

Cranio-Sacral
therapy is a powerful integrative therapy. It is one of the most direct ways of
assessing and improving the factors that affect the Autonomic Nervous System. A treatment session provides several benefits.
The patient's mind gets to monitor what it feels like when the body relaxes and
the Autonomic Nervous System is more in control. [See the
Three Control Systems description on my internet blog.] This work serves as a very effective way to remove blocks to the
efficient motion of cranial fluid and tissues. The result of this is to enhance
the
motion of the cranial bones and overall body energy. The deep relaxation has been
described by some as like being in a deep sleep.
What Craniosacral therapy looks like.

Some people have experienced
visual or other kinds of insights during this work. "Somato-Emotional
Release" is the name given to the way some people experience a letting-go
of being controlled by past negative memories. [See below Upledger's
Energy Medicine links.]

When used in an overall program of
Integrative Medicine and Biological Dentistry, Cranio-Sacral therapy
is a cost-effective treatment that could benefit almost every
patient. [see
Precautions below]

Note: Many parents have found benefit for their
children from craniosacral therapy. I offer craniosacral therapy within the context of
integrative medicine because there are always other background factors that need
to be assessed and treated.

It is my belief that everyone comes to a particular disease process in a
unique way. Therefore, people
with essentially the same diagnostic label may respond very differently
to CST.

Given this variation and highly individual response to therapy, we must
always assume that it may be
possible to obtain positive results.

While we must remain cautious not to have or to give anyone unrealistic
expectations, we should never limit what might be possible.

We simply apply our work to the compensatory mechanisms in the body and
observe how the body self-
corrects or rebalances. It is the response of the body that informs our
subsequent sessions.

So do we give patients false hope? Not at all. We give them hope.

Note for those who are
concerned about criticism of Dr. Upledger: I am aware of the "Quackpots"
who criticize approaches they cannot control. Be careful about accepting
such incendiary opinions because they are not the result of careful
examination and comparison of techniques such as craniosacral therapy. In
addition, I have studied other approaches beyond the Upledger model so if
you have objections to his model, talk with me about my expanded
understanding of Autonomic Nervous System integrity and craniosacral
therapy.

I
have enjoyed occasionally teaching my workshop on Cranio Bio-Dynamics to
healthcare practitioners and some highly motivated non-professionals. When I
work with patients I include some of the information I teach in the classes
because I believe that everyone should know as much as they can about how their
body functions

Craniosacral
therapy is a holistic healing practice that uses very light touching to balance
the craniosacral system in the body, which includes the bones, nerves, fluids,
and connective tissues of the cranium, the spine and the sacrum, and ultimately
all tissues because "everything is connected to everything else."

According
to Upledger: "CranioSacral
Therapy is not osteopathy. Sutherland's approach was bone-oriented and you make
bony corrections. This is soft tissue-oriented, fluid-oriented,
membrane-oriented, and energy-oriented. It's much more subtle than any other
kind of cranial work I know of."

He
says that craniosacral therapy is ideally suited for attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder, headaches, chronic middle ear infection, pain,
and general health maintenance. It is recommended for autism, fibromyalgia,
heart disease, osteoarthritis, pneumonia, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic sinus
infections, and gastroenteritis (inflammation of the lining of the stomach or
small intestine). It is also used with other therapies to treat chronic fatigue
syndrome, back pain, and menstrual irregularity. In addition, other craniosacral
practitioners have reported benefits for eye dysfunction, dyslexia, depression,
motor coordination difficulties, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD),
hyperactivity, colic, asthma in babies, floppy
baby syndrome, whiplash, cerebral palsy, certain birth defects, and other
central nervous system disorders.

The
first written reference to the movement of the spinal nerves and its importance
in life, clarity, and "bringing quiet to the heart" is found in a
4,000-year-old text from China. Craniosacral work was referred to as "the
art of listening." Bone setters in the Middle Ages also sensed the subtle
movements of the body. They used these movements to help reset fractures
and dislocations and to treat headaches.

In
the early 1900s, the research of Dr. William Sutherland, an American osteopathic
physician, detailed the movement of the cranium and pelvis. Before his research
it was believed that the cranium was a solid immovable mass. Sutherland reported
that the skull is actually made up of 22 separate and movable bones that are
connected by layers of tissue. He called his work cranial osteopathy. Nephi
Cotton, an American chiropractor and contemporary of Sutherland, called this
approach craniology. The graduates of these two disciplines have refined and
enhanced these original approaches and renamed their work as sacro-occipital
technique, cranial movement therapy, or craniosacral therapy.

Dr.
John Upledger, an osteopathic physician, and others at the Department of
Biomechanics at Michigan State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine
learned of Sutherland's research and developed it further. He researched the
clinical observations of various osteopathic physicians. This research provided
the basis for Upledger's work that he named craniosacral therapy.

Craniosacral
therapy addresses the craniosacral system. This system includes the cranium,
spine, and sacrum that are connected by a continuous membrane of connective
tissue deep inside the body, called the dura mater. The dura mater also encloses
the brain and the central nervous system. Sutherland noticed that cerebral
spinal fluid rises and falls within the compartment of the dura mata. He called
this movement the primary respiratory impulse; today it is known as the
craniosacral rhythm (CSR) or the cranial wave.

Craniosacral
therapists can most easily feel the CSR in the body by lightly touching the base
of the skull or the sacrum. During a session, they feel for disturbances in the
rate, amplitude, symmetry, and quality of flow of the CSR. A therapist uses very
gentle touch to balance the flow of the CSR. Once the cerebrospinal fluid moves
freely, the body's natural healing responses can function.

A
craniosacral session generally lasts 30-90 minutes. The client remains fully
clothed and lays down on a massage table while the therapist gently assesses the
flow of the CSR. Upledger describes several techniques which may be used in a
craniosacral therapy session. The first is energy cyst release. "This
technique is a hands-on method of releasing foreign or disruptive energies from
the patient's body. Energy cysts may cause the disruption of the tissues and
organs were they are located." The therapist feels these cysts in the
client's body and gently releases the blockage of energy.

Sutherland
first wrote about a second practice called direction of energy. In this
technique the therapist intends energy to pass from one of his hands, through
the patient, into the other hand.

The
third technique is called myofascial release. This is a manipulative form of
bodywork that releases tension in the fascia or connective tissue of the body.
This form of bodywork uses stronger touch.

Upledger's
fourth technique is position of release. This involves following the client's
body into the positions in which an injury occurred and holding it there. When
the rhythm of the CSR suddenly stops the therapist knows that the trauma has
been released.

The
last technique is somatoemotional release. This technique was developed by
Upledger and is an offshoot of craniosacral therapy. It is used to release the
mind and body of the residual effects of trauma and injury that are "locked
in the tissues."

This
gentle approach is extremely safe in most cases. However, craniosacral therapy
is not recommended in cases of acute systemic infections, recent skull fracture,
intracranial hemorrhage or aneurysm, or herniation of the medulla oblongata
(brain stem). Craniosacral therapy does not preclude the use of other medical
approaches.

Side
effects

Some
people may experience mild discomfort after a treatment. This may be due to
re-experiencing a trauma or injury or a previously numb area may come back to
life and be more sensitive. These side effects are temporary.

Research
and general acceptance

More
than 40 scientific papers have been published that document the various effects
of craniosacral therapy. There are also 10 authoritative textbooks on this
therapy. The most notable scientific papers include Viola M. Fryman's work
documenting the successful treatment of 1,250 newborn children with birth
defects. Edna Lay and Stephen Blood showed the effects on TMD, and John
Wood documented results with psychiatric disorders. Many dentists have found craniosacral therapy to be an effective adjunct to
orthodontic work, including
Gerald Smith, DDS, the past president of the Holistic Dental Association. However, the conventional medical community has not endorsed
these techniques.